The current standard in assessments of neuropsychiatric disorders includes questionnaires that require verbal interaction with the person (clinician, caregiver etc.) who is conducting the assessment. Examples of commonly used questionnaires for the assessment of neuropsychiatric disorders are the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) to assess depression, the 26-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) to assess eating disorders and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) to assess behavioural disturbances in dementia patients. If subjects minimize or amplify the severity of their symptoms or are unable to provide accurate descriptions of their symptoms (e.g., Alzheimer patients) the accuracy of the assessments is compromised. Also, due to the time lag between the start of a therapeutic regime and alleviation of symptoms patients are often unaware of the effects of the therapy and cannot provide reliable information regarding the efficacy of the therapy during the early stages of treatment. The current standards of psychiatric assessments may be inaccurate and incomplete. Recent research suggested that visual scanning parameters may provide objective markers that can support a more accurate assessment of neuropsychiatric disorders and better prediction of the efficacy of therapeutic approaches in patients.
Visual scanning devices and parameters derived from the analysis of visual scanning have been utilized when viewing images for a variety of purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,857,452 relates to a method and apparatus for identifying the covert foci of attention of a person when viewing an image or series of images. The method includes the steps of presenting the person with an image having a plurality of visual elements, measuring eye movements of the subject with respect to those images, and based upon the measured eye movements triangulating and determining the level of covert attentional interest that the person has in the various visual elements.
United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0270123 A1 relates to a method and apparatus of utilizing an eye detection apparatus in medical application, which includes calibrating the eye detection apparatus to a user; performing a predetermined set of visual and cognitive steps using the eye detection apparatus; determining a visual profile of a workflow of the user; creating a user-specific database to create an automated visual display protocol of the workflow; storing eye-tracking commands, for individual user navigation and computer interactions; storing context-specific medical application eye-tracking commands, in a database; performing the medical application using the eye-tracking commands; and storing eye-tracking data and result of an analysis of data from performance of the medical application, in the database. The method includes performing an analysis of the database for determining best practice guidelines based on clinical outcome measures.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 7,046,924 relates to a method for determining an area of importance in an archival image. In accordance with this method, eye information including eye gaze direction information captured during an image capture sequence for the archival image is obtained. An area of importance in the archival image is determined based upon the eye information. Area of importance data characterizing the area of importance is associated with the archival image.
Moreover, U.S. Re-issued Pat. No. RE39,539 E illustrates an apparatus for monitoring movement of a person's eye to monitor drowsiness.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 7,206,022 relates to a camera system provided having an image capture system adapted to capture an image of a scene during an image capture sequence and an eye monitoring system adapted to determine eye information including a direction of the gaze of the eye of a user of the camera system. A controller is adapted to store the determined eye information including information characterizing eye gaze direction during the image capture sequence and to associate the stored eye information with the scene image.
United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0012419 A1 discloses a system and method for performing physiological assessments.
United States Patent application Publication No. US 2008/0255949 A1 shows a method and system for measuring non-verbal and pre-conscious responses to external stimuli.
United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0066916 A1 relates to a system and method for determining human emotion by analyzing eye properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,422 filed on Jan. 28, 1986 relates to a diagnostic device and method for detecting various neurological conditions, particularly dyslexia. Eye movement patterns of the subject to be tested are separated into saccadic movements (both progressive and regressive), vergence, pursuit movements and fixations, and the subject's specific eye movement pattern, as evaluated against a specific stimulus, and normal patterns is used for diagnostic purposes. A variety of eye movement detectors is disclosed, together with a sampling means which evaluates the eye position at intervals of less than 10 milliseconds.
United States Patent Application Publication No. US 20130090562 A1 relates to methods and systems for assessing cognitive function. The method includes the steps of presenting a plurality of images, wherein the plurality of images comprises a first subset of images and a second subset of images; monitoring eye movements of the subject during presentation of the first subset of images to obtain first eye movement data; monitoring eye movements of the subject during presentation of the second eye movement data; comparing the first eye movement data and the second eye movement data to determine an index of cognitive function; and correlating the index of cognitive function with a degree of cognitive function in the subject, thereby assessing the cognitive function. Wherein the monitoring steps are carried out using an optical eye tracking system.